Distributed messaging systems have become increasingly popular in recent years as more subscribers have demanded nationwide and global messaging coverage. Such systems have allowed a message originator to enter a message at a number of conveniently positioned local controllers, while the subscriber's "home" controller keeps track of the subscriber and directs the delivery of the message.
Before accepting a message for delivery, the local controller requires certain information about the subscriber. For example, does the subscriber have numeric, alphanumeric, voice, or some other receiving capability? What is the maximum possible message length? Some prior art systems have required communications to take place between the local controller and the home controller to answer such questions before accepting the message. Unfortunately, the required communications and the resultant network traffic have increased the holding time of the message origination call, have delayed delivery of the message, and further have increased the operational costs of the messaging system. Other prior art systems have taken the approach of requiring all messages entered at the local controller to be of a single type and maximum message length, e.g., numeric and 20 characters. Needless to say, this approach lacks the flexibility to accommodate today's variety of subscriber unit capabilities for messaging.
Thus, what is needed is a method and apparatus that can minimize the delays and costs associated with communications required to obtain subscriber information for messages entered at local controllers of distributed messaging systems, while also providing sufficient flexibility to accommodate a variety of subscriber unit types and capabilities.